So you’re on a budget and looking for a great value laptop? Look no further, because we have done the research for you!
Back a few years ago, a laptop under $400 meant getting a slow, cheaply made machine that you can only use for basic things. Well, things have changed, and today for less than 400$ you can have a wide array of affordable laptops to choose from. Still, you will have to spend more for some premium and high end features, such as dedicated graphics or ultra high definition displays, but there are lots of budget laptops out there that offer great value for the money.
In our guide, we have listed some of the best laptops under $400 as of 2019. For our list, we chose laptops that offered the best specs (such as a recent processor, a faster drive, a laptop with ips screen), and we also took into consideration different user reviews and benchmarks. Please note that the laptops are not ranked in any particular order.
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Acer Aspire E15 E5-576-392H: Hands down the best laptop under $400…Period!
If you’re looking for a reliable cheap laptop, then the Aspire E15 E5-576-392H should be first on your list. It’s actually hard to find another laptops that comes with the same features as the Aspire E 15 at this price range: a 7th generation i3-8130U processor, 6GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, a full HD screen, ….and the list goes on. What more can we ask from a sub 400$ laptop?
The Acer Aspire E15 E5-576-392H also offers a free M2 slot in case you need to add an SSD later, the laptop actually has a Sata slot used by the 1TB hard drive, and a free M2 slot. This feature alone should make you fall in love with the Aspire E 15.
Battery life is simply excellent, you can easily get 10 hours of use from a single charge, something you could only from expensive ultrabooks. The Aspire E 15 is also a best seller on Amazon, and you can check the thousands of happy buyers on their website. So you if you’re looking for an affordable laptop under 400$ for home use, don’t pass on this one.
Processor | Intel i3-8130U Processor (Up to 3,4Ghz) |
RAM | 6GB |
Storage | 1TB, HDD |
Graphics | Integrated, Intel HD Graphics 620 |
Screen | 15,6 inch, 1920X1080 |
Connectivity and Ports | 1- USB Type C
2 – USB 3.0 port 1- USB 2.0 port 1 – HDMI port, Card reader, Bluetooth 4.1 |
Battery | up to 13,5 hours battery life |
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HP 14-CF0014DX
The HP 14-CF0014DX is a great value laptop that comes with 7th gen core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB Solid state drive. This is a more than sufficient configuration if you’re looking for a budget laptop for web browsing; working on MS office , or watching movies.
The build quality is very good, even if the chassis is completely made out of black/silver plastic. The HP 14-CF0014DX also offers a good amount of ports, including a USB Type C.
Processor | Intel i3-7100U Processor |
RAM | 8GB |
Storage | 128GB, SSD |
Graphics | Integrated, Intel HD Graphics 620 |
Screen | 14 inch, 1366X768 |
Connectivity and Ports | 1- USB 3.1 Type C
2- USB 3.0 port 1 – HDMI port, Card reader, Bluetooth 4.1 |
Battery | up to 8 hours battery life |
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Dell Inspiron 15 I3567-3970BLK-PUS
Although it was released more than a year ago, the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series (I3567) is still a great option for those looking for a reliable laptop under 400$. The Inspiron 3567 has a 7th generation Intel i3 7130U processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB Solid State Drive. This combination is more than enough for everyday computing tasks, and you shouldn’t see any lag even when running multiple programs.
The Inspiron 3567 also comes with 15.6″ touch screen, which has a resolution of 1366×768.
Processor | Intel i3-7130U Processor |
RAM | 8GB |
Storage | 128GB, HDD |
Graphics | Integrated , Intel HD 620 |
Screen | 15,6 inch, 1366X768 |
Connectivity and Ports | 2 – USB 3.1 port
1- USB 2.0 port 1 – HDMI port, Card reader, Bluetooth 4.1 |
Battery | up to 5 hours battery life |
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Lenovo IdeaPad 330 15.6″ HD Business Laptop, Intel Dual-Core i3-8130U Up to 3.4GHz (Beat i5-7200U), 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD, 802.11ac, Bluetooth, HDMI, Windows 10
Sporting a classic design, the Lenovo IdeaPad 330 has everything you need for your everyday computing tasks: it comes with an Intel core i3-8130U processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. The core i3-8130U scores a total of 5054 points on CPU benchmark, which is a very good score. The IdeaPad 330 is an all purpose budget laptop, and it’s a great choice you are looking for a laptop to browse the internet, word processing, watching movies…etc, the IdeaPad 330 has the power to handle all that. The only bottleneck of this laptop is probably the hard drive: if you need to work/transfer with lots of files, or want a more responsive laptop, it is recommended to get a laptop with an SSD, or upgrade to an SSD later.
The 15,6 inch touch screen has a standard resolution of 1366X768 which is to be expected on a laptop at this price tag, but we hoped Lenovo could make an effort there.
Processor | Intel i3-8130U Processor |
RAM | 8GB |
Storage | 1TB, HDD |
Graphics | Integrated, Intel HD Graphics 620 |
Screen | 15,6 inch, 1366X768 |
Connectivity and Ports | 1 – USB 3.1 port Type C
2- USB 3.0 port 1 – HDMI port, Card reader, Bluetooth 4.1 |
Battery | up to 5 hours battery life |
Lenovo Flex 4 (2016 model): Best 2 in 1 laptop under 400
The Lenovo Flex 4 is a budget 2 in 1 laptop intended for home use and productivity tasks, it is perfect if you’re looking for a 14 inch laptop for college for example. The Flex is essentially a budget version of the Lenovo Yoga line, and this particular model comes with an Intel Pentium Dual-Core 4405U processor, 4GB of RAM, and a standard 500GB hard drive. This CPU scores a total of 2975 points of CPU benchmark.
The 14 inch screen has a resolution of 1366X768 pixels, and has a 10-point multitouch. The chassis has a thickness of 0,8inch and the laptop weighs more than 3,5lbs, which makes using the Lenovo Flex 4 in tablet mode a little problematic. If you need to use the laptop in tablet mode most of the time, we can also recommend the Lenovo Yoga 710, which is also priced under 400$, but thinner and lighter than the flex 4.
What you certainly love about the Flex 4 is its keyboard, the keys have a decent key travel distance which is comparable to that found in premium Thinkpad laptops. Battery life is also great, and you can expect around 8 hours of use from a full charge.
Processor | Intel Pentium 4405U Processor |
RAM | 4GB |
Storage | 500GB, HDD |
Graphics | Integrated, Intel HD Graphics 520 |
Screen | 15,6 inch, 1366X768 |
Connectivity and Ports | 2 – USB 3.0 port
1- USB 2.0 port 1 – HDMI port, Card reader, Bluetooth 4.1 |
Battery | up to 8,5 hours battery life |